Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Why should that matter to me, you ask, seeing as how I live in the Sunshine State where warmth and nice weather are legendary? We have signs of spring down here too. . . RV's headed north, plenty of parking spots, dry grass, road constructions barrels. . .

Sure signs of spring?

But honestly, I prefer the more traditional signs from "up north." Robins. Budding trees. Daffodils. Snirt. Okay you can tell things are out of whack when I start getting sentimental about piles of dirty slush.

sigh.

So I decided I needed, maybe we all needed, a breath of spring after such a long hard, winter. Here's my contribution:

**** WARNING: GRATUITOUS CUTENESS AHEAD! ****

Spring is the time for flowers-- crocus, tulips, and daffodils. My personal favorites are daffodils. Bunnies don't eat them like they do tulips and better yet, they naturalize and spread all by themselves. Assuming they have a little fertilizer now and then. And you know, I learned that a little "blood meal" from the garden store not only keeps the munchers away, it also adds tons of iron and nitrogen to the soil and makes your bulb foliage rich green and glossy. :)

Not that I have anything against bunnies. quite the contrary. I think they're adorable. Just not munching on my hard-won spring flowers. And to prove it, I'm giving bunnies equal time.

But lest I be accused of being "species-est" (I think that means preferring one species over another) I'll have to give space and a few "awww"s to the duckies.

Yes, spring is in the air, but not just for domesticated critters. . . for wild beasties, too. Like baby foxes. (Are you in a diabetic coma yet?)

Of course my favorite bunnies are always the two-legged variety:Oops. . . these aren't the ones I meant. . . but they're so cute, we'll let them stay.

This is the two-legged bunny I had in mind.

So, lets review. Spring is a time for birth and new growth. Flowers. Baby animals. A resurgent sense of life and hope after a long, hard winter. And of course as the weather warms up. . . young peoples fancy turns to thoughts of LOVE. sigh.

Also Easter baskets and chocolate. Though Easter is so early this year, it's hard to get sobered up from St. Paddy's Day in time to celebrate it with proper enthusiasm. So, I'll leave you with one last chuckle. . . not at all fitting for the end of such a sugary, sweet post. But I did write it after all. So, here you are.

So, what are your favorite signs of spring? What makes you want to rush out and get your hands in the dirt. . . plant something. . . buy a new dress. . . boil and dye eggs. . . eat 5 pounds of bunny-shaped chocolate? Anybody else get spring fever from seed and plant catalogs? Are your toes just aching for barefoot weather?

13 comments:

Oh, Betina, I so needed this! (ANd the chocolate bunnies.) I just posted a pic of my backyard on my blog. Snow still. Is Spring really supposed to be here in two days? I don't know if I can buy into that one. But I've got my fingers crossed fiercely!

I got a peony catalog in the mail the other day. That makes me hungry for spring.

I am so ready for spring and we didn't even have a bad winter. But I'm ready for steady warm temps instead of 20 one day and 60 the next like we've had the past few months. Of course around here, spring usually means thunderstorms and possibly tornadoes, so it's a mixed blessing.

I have 2 bird nests in my back yard -- one is bluebirds and the other is killdeer. They nested here last year and came back. I put up my bird feeders and my back yard is alive with birds.

I also have a spring cold -- my first cold in ages. Apparently I caught it from the grandbaby when we kept her over the weekend. She had a runny nose but it didn't look bad; I thought it was just allergies. I washed my hands a bazillion times but apparently not enough. *sigh* I hate colds, especially in warm weather.

And I am SO ready to start planting flowers but after our hard freeze the first of April last year, I'm waiting a while yet.

Betina - I love Gratuitous cuteness. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.Saw my first robin yesterday - I always look forward to that as it means the worst of winter is surely behind us.Thanks for the smiles.

I love the kitty/bunny photo. I just want to smush them up and smooch on 'em. Which might explain why kitties run when they see me. Hmm...

It's spring here. Beautiful weather, some breeze, tornado season, yelling at the tree company this morning because after 3.5 months they still say the weather hasn't been good enough for them to bring the crane needed to take down the big tree that I'm worried will fall on my house. (Branches have taken out two fences and counting.)

Well! All my spring goodwill is now gone to worries about the next tornado. LOL!

Let me go look at the kitty/bunny again and take a few deep breaths. (g)

I don't need spring to eat too much chocolate, but one of my favorite signs of spring up here are the redwing blackbirds -- everyone thinks it's robins, but it's really the blackbirds that signal the onset of spring. That and our woodchuck in the backyard starts coming out to forage -- saw her for the first time yesterday. She always walks around looking like "what the f***? I woke up for this?" because there isn't a whole lot green out there yet... Soon, though. :)

I have a bad habit of rushing the planting season. The greenhouse clerks dutifully warn us not to put these tender little set plants in the ground before mid-May, but I start buying them too soon and planting the patio pots, I've even been known to to the pots inside at night when the weatherman predicts late frost, back out in the morning.

My favorite bulbs are the squill. I love the color, and they're so early. Love daffodils too.

Marilyn, the spring colds are often the worst. I almost included a pic of a "spring allergies" sufferer. But then, we can just look in the mirror, right? Feel better!

Deb-- good luck with the tree removal. That can be tricky.

Lois, I didn't realize horses shed like that! Yeah, I've seen 'em shaggy after winter but somehow never made the connection to the kind of hair surplus that Golden Retrievers produce. Huh. Learn something every day.

Kathy, I'm always wanting to jump the gun, too with the flowers and spring planting. Down here you can get away with it some.

And I'm anxious to get back into my sandals. It's been a little too nippy to wear them most of the winter. You'll probably hear my feet sigh all the way across the country!

That is the cutest bunny I've ever seen! And I'm not a bunny lover (other than Bugs Bunny.)

Daffodils are my favorite...and lilacs. *sighs* I live out in the country, so I love to watch the trees budding and hear the frogs chirping. When you hear them chirping...you know spring is here. Huzzah!

Ahhh the bunny! I want the bunny! I never got Easter baskets growing up :'( - so I just don't bother now. My toes are aching yes, but that's b/c they're numb from cold! I cannot WAIT until I can wear flip flops!